Laundry Room Conversations
by AlexanderCastle
Summary: AU one-shot, based on a prompt from hproxx1999 and written for her birthday. Tired of the noise his roommates are making, Percy escapes to the laundry room of his apartment building, only to be interrupted by someone else doing the exact same thing.


**So this happened. I'm ridiculously proud of it, to tell you the truth. This was from a prompt given to me by hproxx1999 (full prompt at the end). I think I ended up changing a couple of the prompt details in order to make it fit, but I hope it comes out relatively like what she expected.**

 ** _Disclaimer - I don't own PJO, nor do I own the idea for this story._**

 ** _For hproxx1999 - Thank you for trusting me not to screw this up. Happy Birthday._**

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I was woken from the first pleasant sleep I'd had in the past week by a loud moaning coming from my roommate's bedroom just down the hall. Groaning inwardly, I lay back down on my side, pulling my pillow over my head and clutching it as close as possible to my ears with both hands in an attempt to drown out the offending noise so I could get some real sleep. Unfortunately, as I quickly discovered when another moan, equally as loud, pierced my ears, I wasn't going to get anything of the kind any time soon. "Shut the hell up, Nico!"

Grabbing one of my shoes, I flung it at the wall that separated my room from the room the noise was coming from, grinning in satisfaction as the noise suddenly ceased, only for the smile to disappear from my face as an even louder moan filled the apartment's air. Sighing, I resigned myself to the fact that I simply wasn't going to actually get any sleep that night. Flinging my legs over the side of my bed and getting to my feet, I quickly slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a plain blue shirt, putting on my right shoe (and reclaiming my left shoe from where it had landed by the wall after I threw it). Grabbing my apartment keys, and scribbling a quick note to Nico so that he didn't get worried if he and Will stopped having sex for long enough to realize that I was gone (which I highly doubted they would), I slipped through the apartment door into the hallway, closing and locking it behind me. "Now, where to…"

Suddenly, the idea for the perfect place hit me. _The laundry room. Perfect. It's far enough away from my apartment that I won't have to listen to Nico and Will, and yet it's still close enough that it won't take me more than a couple of minutes to get down there. Plus it's bound to be empty this time of night anyway, so I'm not risking looking weird by sitting in the laundry room with no laundry. That has got to be a positive._ Taking the stairs two at a time, I soon reached the ground floor and turned into the short hallway that led to the building's (small, though adequately furnished) laundry room. Flicking the lights on, I sighed slightly, savouring the sweet sound of silence as I sank onto one of the room's wooden benches. "Just perfect. Now to wait an hour or so to give Nico and Will a chance to get it out of their systems, then go back upstairs and get some well-deserved sleep".

After I'd been sitting there for a couple of minutes, there was a familiar-sounding young woman's voice from the other side of the door. "Hello? Is someone in there? I saw the light was on and I just wanted to make sure that it was on because someone was in here and not because someone left it on accidentally"

I knew I'd heard that voice before. I just couldn't quite place where. "No, its fine, come in".

Just as the woman was about to step through the door, I remembered where I'd recognized her voice from. Her name was Annabeth Chase. _She was an employee at a local architecture firm who lived across from the hall from Nico, Will, and myself with her own roommates, Piper and Jason (who just so happened to be the cousin of both Nico and myself). About a month before, she'd had to attend a conference of some kind outside of the city, and had called me to ask if I'd mind looking after her apartment for her for a couple of days (since Jason and Piper were also planning to be out of town at around that time, though in their case it was for an anniversary trip they'd apparently been wanting to take for a while). Naturally, having had a crush on her almost since I met her, I'd agreed._ The blonde-haired woman stepped into the laundry room, blinking in surprise as she registered my presence. "Percy Jackson, right? From the apartment across the hall?"

"That's me. Good to see you again, Annabeth".

The surprised look hadn't left her face yet. I gathered she hadn't expected to see me down here. "The same to you. What are you doing down here?"

I shifted over, making room for her to sit down on the bench next to me. She did so, sighing and leaning back so that her head was against the wall. "My roommates were being ridiculously loud again".

"Oh"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't normally begrudge them their time together (especially since both of them work really long hours too), but it's late and I had a busy day at work and I kind of just wanted to get some sleep. Of course, then I realized that wasn't an option, I decided to come down here. I just had to get away from the constant sound. So, that's why I'm down here. What about you?"

I sighed, nodding, lying back so my head was against the wall next to hers. "Funnily enough, I'm down here for exactly the same reason. I love living with both Nico and Will, I really do, but the practically ever-present sound of them having… sex… has just really started to get on my nerves lately. I was planning to wait here for a few hours so that they'd have a chance to get it out of their systems, but after really thinking about it I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. Hell, just before I got up to come down here they were making so much noise that I actually threw my shoe at the wall that separated my room from theirs".

She laughed (a sound which I had always sworn was like the sweetest music), shaking her head. "Did it work?"

"It did, for maybe two minutes at the most. I swear the moaning was even louder when it returned"

Annabeth sighed. "Well, at least you didn't accidentally walk in on them or something. That would have been embarrassing".

"With Will and Nico as roommates? I probably would have heard them before I even opened the door" I commented dryly.

I glanced down at my watch. _Only 11pm? My god, it feels so much later._ Annabeth stood, stretching her arms above her head, causing her pyjama shirt to ride up slightly and revealing a patch of tanned skin. "I guess I should go back up and see if Piper and Jason are done yet… It was nice talking to you again, Percy".

As she headed for the door, I thought quickly. _I should say something before she leaves. Who knows how long it'll be before I see her again?_ "Annabeth?"

She turned towards me, perfect eyebrow arched. "Yes?"

I was on my feet instantly, the words falling from my mouth before I could stop them. "Do you maybe want to go get a cup of coffee with me?"

She seemed sceptical. "At this time of night, Percy? Is there even anywhere still open?"

I nodded, remembering one place that Nico, Will, and I visited every once in a while. "I know this great place over on Suffolk Street that's open until midnight. The coffee's cheap, but absolutely wonderful. Plenty of seating, too".

Annabeth seemed to consider it momentarily. _Please say yes. Please say yes._ After a couple of minutes, she nodded. "Alright, Percy, let's go get some coffee".

Smiling to myself, I followed her from the room, flicking off the light switch as I stepped through the door. _Well, that certainly turned out better than I expected. Maybe tonight hasn't been completely awful after all._

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 **There we go. I think that turned out really well, all things considered.**

 **Full prompt: I escaped to the laundry room to avoid hearing my roommates having extremely loud sex only to find you're here doing the same thing.**

 **Songs for this week are:**

 **Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears**

 **Time - Ben's Brother**

 **Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Reviews?**


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